The Peshtigo Fire

Peshtigo was a booming lumber town in Wisconsin, with the Peshtigo River running through it, and massive forests growing right up to the town's edge. The local sawmill which had 97 saws, produced 150,000 feet of lumber each day. The other major employer was the huge wooden-ware factory, claimed by the locals as being the largest in the world. With the main activities of the town concentrated in the timber industry, it is not surprising that potential fire risks lurked around every corner:

Undergrowth from the pine forests intentionally burned, or left in piles in the forest.
Large piles of stripped bark and sawdust around the sawmill
Large supplies of logs and timber at the wooden-ware factory
Wooden construction buildings, board walks, sawdust floors and streets.

Drought conditions had existed throughout the spring and summer of 1871 with high temperatures, and several small outbreaks of fires had to be extinguished by local volunteers.

At 9:0 pm on the 8th. October 1871 thick smoke was blowing into the town from the small debris fires set by the loggers, a common practice at the time. An eyewitness reported hearing a "low, moaning. He could hear a far off roaring of the wind from the Southwest". This was be beginning of a cyclonic storm, the worst possible event that could have befallen the town that fateful night. Within minutes there were fires everywhere. One man said "great volumes of fire would rise up fifty feet from the tops of the trees, leap over thirty acres of clearing, and in an instant flame up the forest beyond". Hurricane force winds ripped off the roofs of houses, and blew over barns. People were numb with terror, with fire above and all around them. Their clothing and hair burst into flames, and their skin blistered in the heat. Some ran into large buildings, which burst into flames and collapsed, killing all inside. Some people who found themselves in areas where the heat was most intense, burst into flames and were reduced to ashes.
Many suffocated or were boiled to death seeking safety in their wells. In one such well was found the bodies of Norman Davis, his wife, and their three small children. Some fled into their cellars, and were asphyxiated, when the updraft of the hurricane force firestorm, feeding itself, sucked out all the oxygen .

Those that survived the searing heat, explosions, and falling debris in the town, headed for the Peshtigo River hoping to find safety there, but what seemed like a safe haven proved to be anything but. A rain of fire came down on them exploding in steam in the water, then the wooden-ware factory exploded, showering the people huddled in and around the river with burning wooden barrels, broom handles, and debris from the factory. Those in the water could only have their heads above water for a few seconds, due to the intense heat, and the burning debris that covered the surface of the river. Many perished, either by drowning or fire. Among those found burnt to death near the river, was Charles Lawrence, his wife, and their four children. Charlotte Seymour and her infant nephew who had fled to the river were both drowned. The whole village of Peshtigo was obliterated in the single hour between nine and ten o'clock on that awful day. A total of 1.500 lives were lost, and more than a 1,000,000 acres of farms, forests, sawmills, and small towns of Wisconsin and upper Michigan were consumed by the flames - The greatest tragedy of it's kind in North America.

The Tokyo Fire

12:00 noon 1st. September 1923. An earthquake shook Tokyo, and although a few people were killed by falling masonry, much of Tokyo's buildings were of built of light construction because of known earthquake risk, so severe harm to residents would be minimized in the event of collapse. However, the materials used made them a severe fire hazard. Being midday, many thousands of cooking stoves were in use at the time of the earthquake, and these upturned stoves rapidly ignited the paper, wood and fabric of the flattened structures. Strong winds combined to quickly turn Tokyo into an inferno. Many people were burned to death, trapped in the narrow streets where bridges were ablaze, cutting off their escape.
Police and firemen guided people to a park on the east bank of the Sumida River for safety, and soon there were over 40,000 people there stood shoulder to shoulder. Tragically, a sudden firestorm swept through the park, instantly killing 30,000 people. Others who had fled to the rivers, and the great moat surrounding the Imperial Palace, were burned, asphyxiated, and boiled alive as they stood up to their necks in the water. Others were drowned or crushed to death, when the bridges collapsed under the weight of huge crowds dashing to escape the firestorm.
Tokyo lost 300,000 buildings which included 20,000 factories and warehouses, 5,000 banks, 2,500 churches, 1,500 schools, 300 government buildings, and 250 theatres and amusement centres. A further tragic loss was the Imperial College Library, which held one of the greatest collections of original manuscripts, rare books, and priceless art objects in the world.

More than 100,000 people were known to have perished, 43,000 disappeared without trace, 100,000 were seriously injured, and an almost unimaginable 1.5 million people left homeless.

16th. February 1983 - Ironically, Ash Wednesday was to usher in one of the worst bushfires the Country had seen since 1939. Following a long severe drought, which had reduced streams to a fifth of their normal flow, and lakes and reservoirs almost dry, the regions bush-fire risk rating was "Extreme". Bans had been issued against the lighting of barbecues, bonfires, and any unauthorized open fires. One fire officer stated that "South-eastern Australia is a firebomb waiting to go off". Searing 70 mph winds swept in from the desert interior, pushing before it huge clouds of hot dust. By midday the temperature had risen to 110 deg F, and humidity had dropped below 10 percent. The bush was tinder dry, with thousands of tons of dead leaves, branches, and other ground litter, and of course the lovely eucalyptus tree, whose leaves contain an oil which produce an explosive gas at high temperatures. The dreaded 'fire triangle' (Heat, Fuel, Air) was coming together. The first fires were spotted just outside of Adelaide, and by mid-afternoon 20 major fires were raging across a 600 mile front, jumping 100 - 150 feet high. Near Melbourne a 150 mph whirling firestorm was consuming the town of Macedon. Such was the intensity of the heat, that birds were dropping out of the sky, even at some great distance away from the inferno.

Over 70 people died, hundreds of thousands of livestock perished, more than 2,000 houses and buildings were destroyed, and 2,000 square miles of forest became nothing more than scorched earth. Damages were in excess of $450 million.

2nd. September 1666 - London at this time was a dirty overcrowded City, with narrow streets crammed with overhanging timber houses. The long hot summer had left everything tinder box dry. The fire started between 1 - 2 am in the house of the Kings baker in Pudding Lane. This area was full of run-down pitch coated wooden houses. Although the fire was slow to spread initially, it was said that Farynor's Bakery burned for an hour, before it spread to the house nextdoor. However, once it reached Thames Street, with it's warehouses and cellars full of highly flammable goods, it rapidly became an unstoppable inferno. The Church of St. Magnus the Martyr, at the base of London Bridge was ablaze by 8 am, and from there the inferno went on to consume the bridge itself. Along with the bridge houses, the fire destroyed the wooden water-wheels fixed into the arches of the bridge. These were designed to pump the City's water supply, so the firefighter's greatest asset was removed at a very early stage. Landlords who had refused to allow their houses to be pulled down to create fire breaks, were within minutes, reduced to watching them being burned down, as the raging inferno spread ever further into the City. Parts of London were only saved when the order was given to start using explosives to blow up houses in Tower Street, thus preventing the fire from spreading eastwards.

Over 80 percent of the City was reduced to ashes, 87 parish churches and halls were lost, many libraries and hospitals were destroyed and 90 percent of the City's houses were burned to the ground. Between 100,000 and 200,000 people were made homeless, but amazingly only 6 people were killed.

A year later, Dr. Nicholas Barbon formed the Fire Company, the first fire insurance firm in the world.

8th. October 1871 - Chicago was almost made of wood. 55 mile of streets were laid with pine blocks, with 651 miles of wooden sidewalks, the Union Stockyards were paved with wooden blocks to protect the feet of livestock. The bridges over the Chicago River were of timber construction, as were the ships that plied their trade on the river. A total of 2,124 acres was consumed by the fire, 18.000 buildings were destroyed, at an estimated cost of $196 million. 100,000 people were made homeless. The official death toll was 300 people, but due to the ferocity of the fire, many body remains were never found, and many people were unaccounted for.

Many countries throughout the World sent contributions to the rebuilding fund, the most generous of which came from England, with $435,000 and 12,000 books to restock the libraries, including personally autographed copies from such authors as Alfred Lord Tennyson, John Ruskin, Thomas Carlyle, and Queen Victoria herself.

18th. April 1906 - San Francisco, in the grip of an earthquake, did not have to wait long for the inevitable fires that are triggered by damage to electrical equipment, ignited gas, and upset fires etc. Within 30 minutes of the quake more than 50 fires were blazing away in various places. These sporadic fires quickly combined into a raging inferno, and by the early afternoon the business area was almost lost. Chinatown was being consumed by the early evening, and moving towards the mansions on Nob Hill. The Barbary Coast was ablaze by the early hours of the following day (Thursday), and the smoke was reported as having been seen as far as 100 miles out at sea. A thousand train coaches full of refugees fled the City, provided free of charge by the Southern Pacific Railway.

Over 300.000 homeless and hungry people fled into the City's parks. 5 square miles of the centre of the City fell victim to the conflagration. More than 28,000 buildings were destroyed. Over 500 people died, 350 were missing, presumed dead, and nearly 450 were seriously injured. Insurance claims amounted to $229 million, but no figure was put on the value of uninsured losses.

In 2000, 7.5 million acres burned in the USA This is an area roughly equal to the size of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Delaware combined. At least 860 structures, mostly family homes, were destroyed .